Ziggs has zero presence at Worlds 2022, having been neither picked nor banned.
However, League of Legends content creator and analyst Nick “LS” De Cesare believes this mage champion is massively overpowered — but pro players just aren’t using him.
In his latest patch rundown, he explained why the hexplosives expert should be picked in the mid lane and bot lane, especially in the current Worlds 2022 meta. And yet, despite his current unperceived power level, Riot Games went ahead to buff him in the latest patch.
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Ziggs got a random buff in League of Legends patch 12.20
Q – Bouncing Bomb
- Magic Damage increased from 85/135/185/235/285 (+65% AP) to 95/145/195/245/295 (+65% AP)
Zigg’s most spammable ability, Bouncing Bomb, now has a free 10 extra base magic damage at all levels in patch 12.20. “[He is] in need of a little extra explosive power in his kit. We’re packing his bombs with a bit more powder so he should find more success shoving lane for more map priority,” the game developers explained in their patch notes.
But according to LS, the champion isn’t as weak as his current play rate and win rate suggest. Sure, in solo queue it’s harder to play him at bot lane in place of a marksman, but in pro play, he has the potential to shine on the Worlds stage.
“This champion is broken. Ziggs is absolutely nuts in his current state — no one plays him,” LS said in his video. He listed Caitlyn, Miss Fortune, and Ashe as prevalent picks in the current bot lane Worlds meta, Azir and Sylas in mid, and Heimerdinger support, all of whom Ziggs is really good against.
“It is bewildering why people will not play Ziggs. He’s shown up historically at some points, notably in the LCK… but no one wants to play him,” said LS.
A possible reason why he’s not being picked despite his range and shove advantage is that Ziggs is a “really difficult champion to play” at a competitive level because of his Q and W abilities, LS added.
At the time of writing, Ziggs has a positive 51.26% win rate in the mid lane on the current patch, according to U.GG, and 51.89% win rate at bot lane at Platinum rank and above. However, his pick rate (1.9%) is considerably lower than other popular solo queue mid lane champions like Syndra (13.2%), Viktor (11.4%), and Zed (8.9%).
Read the full League of Legends patch 12.20 notes here.
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